


Your Hands Can Heal

by phenomenology



Series: Kanera Week [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Kanera Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-15
Updated: 2016-03-15
Packaged: 2018-05-26 21:50:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6257203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phenomenology/pseuds/phenomenology
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kanera Week Day Two: prompt - wary<br/>They didn't always know where they were going to end up, which means they weren't always so sure - so comfortable - around each other. But love's a journey and it has to start somewhere.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Your Hands Can Heal

_Fragile_ was never a word that Kanan ever would have thought he could apply to Hera. She was powerful, independent, the backbone of the ship, and a pilot in her own right; she was a star gone supernova that nothing in the universe could contain. To Kanan, she was everything and more and no amount of words could ever describe her in her entirety. One of those words, however, would not be fragile.

Yet here she was, lying beside him in her bunk, both of them bruised and bandaged after a particularly rough mission. Her eyes were closed as she breathed deeply. Kanan could feel in her signature that she wasn’t really asleep, only attempting to be.

They had both taken quite a beating during this operation, and the dull throb of pain was more than enough to stave off the sleep they both so desperately needed. Kanan had resigned himself nearly half an hour prior to simply staring at Hera’s face, tracing the lines of her contours with his eyes. But now, he couldn’t resist any longer. Reaching up, his fingertips brushed airily down the subtle line of Hera’s cheekbone.

Hera’s eyes fluttered open almost immediately and focused on Kanan’s face. She hummed softly and seemed to lean ever so slightly into his touch.

“Couldn’t sleep?” she murmured. Her voice was melodious to his ears, even at half her normal volume. He nodded minutely and hummed in acknowledgement. Kanan’s fingers left her cheek and traced down to her bare shoulder.

During their patching up process, Hera had discarded her flight suit. Underneath it, she wore an old tank top and loose shorts that fell just above her knees. Kanan had taken off his armor and foregone his shirt. They had both been so worn out afterwards, that they had simply crawled into Hera’s bunk as they were.

“Are you alright?” Hera’s soft voice pulled Kanan from his thoughts. It dragged his eyes from where his fingers lay against her skin up to her eyes. She had such large, luminescent eyes, round and perfectly green. Nearly getting lost in thought again, Kanan forced himself to focus.

“Yeah,” he answered softly. “The adrenaline’s worn off, so everything hurts a lot more now.” From the tight line of Hera’s lips, he guessed that she felt the same way. He drew a small circle against her shoulder with his fingertips. Hera’s skin was soft and warm. She hummed at his touch and closed her eyes for a brief moment.

Letting out a tired sigh, she shifted ever so slightly before opening her eyes to look back at Kanan. “How do we always manage to scrape by the skin of our teeth? It would be nice to have just _one_ mission where we could relax instead of patch each other up.” Behind her, Hera’s lekku were tense with agitation, giving away just how frustrated she was.

Kanan reached up and let his finger brush against her cheek. She simply stared at him and he stared back before answering, “There’s only the two of us, and Chopper, and we’re taking on some big missions. It’s only natural. I would say we’re actually doing pretty well on our own.”

Hera shook her head as much as she could while lying against a pillow. “That’s not good enough, Kanan.”

With his fingers still hovering and brushing against her cheek, Kanan paused, looking Hera in the eye. Their breathing seemed to be in-sync, chests rising and falling in near perfect tandem.

“I know,” Kanan’s voice was the barest ghost of a whisper, but with Hera so close to him, she heard perfectly. And she knew that this was a conversation that they needed to have, at some point. But for now, it was obvious they were both past the point of exhaustion. So she resigned herself to laying still as Kanan’s fingers ghosted across her skin.

Tracing the line of her jaw with the minimal amount of pressure, he stopped next to her chin. Fingers twisting around, Kanan’s thumb found it’s way to Hera’s lips. The rough, calloused skin of his thumb found nothing but soft, delicate skin in the line of Hera’s lips. She watched him with attentive eyes, his own transfixed with the plump curve of her pout.

There were no words exchanged aloud, but when Kanan’s eyes flickered up to Hera’s, it was perfectly clear that she was waiting for something to happen. They had been dancing around this for weeks, maybe even months. Neither of them were sure when these feelings had sparked between them; all they knew was that it just felt _right._

Kanan moved, rolling Hera carefully onto her back, and planting his knees on either side of Hera’s hips, but not daring to put any weight on her. One of his hands supported him, planted firmly against the sheets. The other hand roamed lazily up her shoulder, brushed against the skin of her neck, and finally settled to cup the side of her face. 

The purplish bruise marking her cheek left Kanan’s fingers brushing over the skin, too afraid to make much contact. Her scattered array of bandages covered her skin like roughly sewn patchwork, stark white against her vibrant pigment. Without her gloves on, and the leather padding of her flight suit, Hera was so much more slender than Kanan could have ever guessed. She looked delicate to the touch, and he was almost afraid to touch her with any more force than the feather-like brushes of his fingers.

But when his eyes met Hera’s, she seemed to be waiting – no expecting – him to make a move. So he leaned down, both of their eyes closing on instinct when their noses brushed. Hesitating only a moment, they considered what would come of this next movement, before simultaneously stretching toward each other to close the gap between them.

Feeling like the breath had been knocked out of his throat, Kanan held the air in his lungs as they kissed. Hera’s lips were only lightly pressed against his, but they slipped together like long lost puzzle pieces. And while their lips were the only true contact point of their bodies, a heat like none Kanan had ever felt before rushed through his body. It wasn’t like anything he could ever describe to another being. The warmth felt like coming home, like he was back with his Master, with his family, and everything wrong in the galaxy had suddenly been righted.

From the way Hera’s hands reached up to clutch at his bicep, Kanan could only guess that she felt the same way. The hand he had placed against Hera’s cheek slipped underneath the back of her head and gently guided her lips up to press a little more against his. She moved willingly with him, but made no other gesture to try and take things any further. And though she had a hold of his arm, her touch was light and barely there.

The press of their lips had hardly deepened with Kanan’s guidance, both of them holding back. They were still slightly unsure of each other, the movements foreign despite being smooth and mutual. The hesitance came from uncertainty, from a wariness that plagued them both.

There was an unspoken understanding between them that if they were to take this farther, farther than ghost-like touch and chaste kissing, there would be something new between them. And that something was dangerous. It would mean there was suddenly something much more important that could be corrupted, used against them, and lost. That was the price they paid for being rebels.

And they both knew this; they knew it like the warning had been engraved into their very bones.

Kanan was the one to break the delicate contact of their lips, needing to take a breath. He looked down at Hera, still supporting the back of her head with one hand. Hera’s lips were still slightly parted, her breath rasping slightly on its way out of her mouth. Her hand against his bicep squeezed a little more tightly.

They remained in their hovering, in-between position for a moment longer, before Kanan gently set Hera’s head back down on the mattress. His hand slipped out from under her head as he returned to his position at her side. They lay on their sides, facing each other; while their eyes roamed over places their hands dared not touch.

Laying out his hand against the mattress between them, Hera let her hand slip into his. His warm fingers curled around her smaller hand, her skin surprisingly smooth against his own rough pads. Her thumb began rubbing small circles around the base knuckle of Kanan’s thumb. While she watched their hands with sleepy, lidded eyes, Kanan’s gaze was trained on her face. He had gone back to tracing her contours with his eyes.

“This is crazy,” Hera whispered, eyes not leaving their entwined hands. 

“What is?” Kanan murmured. He was already fairly certain of her answer, but he had to hear her say it.

“Us,” she breathed, finally looking up to meet his eyes. Her thumb still traced circles into his skin as she continued. “Whatever this is between us, it’s foolish with our occupation.”

“Are you against it?” Kanan returned quietly.

After a moment of hesitation, Hera shook her head. “I’m not entirely sure. My head knows that this is dangerous to pursue…”

“But?” Kanan asked after she lay in silence for a couple of heartbeats.

“But my heart just won’t listen,” she said. Her voice, though soft, was strained with conflicted emotions, sounding almost frustrated. The distress was evident on Hera’s features, lines creasing her forehead and pulling at her features.

“Hera,” Kanan murmured, giving her hand a light squeeze. She stared back at him, waiting for him to continue.

“We will be okay. If this is something you want to pursue – and I know that I care about you too much to let it go without thought – then we will take our time. If we really want to try this, try _us_ , out…then everything will eventually work itself out.”

Hera pressed her lips together and sighed quietly. She seemed to be heavily pondering Kanan’s words as her eyes wandered down to their hands again. There was a part of her that wanted to take the dare the universe that thrown at her, defy all reason and have a relationship with Kanan. But the logical part of her warned of risk, of the potential to end up heartbroken. Something like this was a distraction from her – their – mission as a team. 

Yet there was Kanan, with his understanding gaze and gentle touch. His past was scarred with loss, with betrayal and bloodshed. And he still found it in himself to approach the topic of love, of having a relationship in the midst of their rebellion. Though he approached it cautiously, the mere fact that he approached it at all was enough to convince Hera.

She eventually nodded, giving Kanan’s hand another squeeze. “I don’t think that we should do this now, but I’m open to the idea.”

The smile she received from Kanan was more than enough reward for Hera. She knew that this was something they both needed, even if they were taking their time. 

Once that had been decided, Hera found it much easier than before to drift off to sleep. Her hand remained wrapped up in Kanan’s larger hand, anchoring her as she slipped into unconsciousness.

Kanan remained awake for a little while longer, his heart feeling lighter than it had in a long time. Hera was willing to think about the possibility of them being together, and that was more than Kanan could have ever hoped for. He had gone so long with so little emotional satisfaction, that this was practically overwhelming. 

Hera’s face was peaceful now, the creases of distress that had been there earlier had vanished. Unlike earlier, her signature was as steady as her breathing, letting Kanan know that she really was asleep. The peaceful atmosphere in the cabin was soothing.

With a large yawn, Kanan finally found himself able to drift towards sleep. With his hand still curled around Hera’s, their simple connection reassured Kanan that he was no longer completely alone in the galaxy.


End file.
